


Hibana: The Spark

by HngXS



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, No Beta, OC-centric, Slow Burn, These children don't know what love is
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:47:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21956110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HngXS/pseuds/HngXS
Summary: Hatake Shiori just graduated from the Academy and placed into a three man squad like all Genin. This is her story as she discovers what sparks her Will of Fire.
Relationships: Hyuuga Neji/Original Female Character(s), Uchiha Sasuke/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 26





	1. Enter: Team 3

Shiori blew a strand of hair out of her face as she waited for her assignment. She had just passed the Genin Exams a week ago and was now awaiting her team assignments. She glanced over to the other graduating Genin that were in the classroom with her.

As usual, she sat next to Neji, who, other than a small nod of acknowledgement, said nothing else. She liked to think that she hit it off with the Hyuga after they were paired up for a sparring session one day due to their names being next to each other on the roster.

"Is something on my face?" Neji inquired, snapping Shiori out of her thoughts.

The silver haired girl looked at Neji, blinking owlishly. She gave a small smile and responded, "I'm just thinking how I'm gonna miss all our talkative conversations."

The Hyuga gave a small _hn,_ but made no further comment. She smiled back. After that one particular sparring session, she quickly found out that she was Neji's favorite partner, as he had asked her to spar with him whenever they were able to do free pairups.

He wasn't the most friendly or talkative guy around, but he kept good company. He was a good listener.

Iruka stepped into the room, catching everyone's attention. Her eyes snapped to him, and she waited patiently as he looked at the clipboard in front of him.

"Congratulations to all of you for graduating," Iruka said proudly, looking at each and every individual student. "You are all now full-fledged ninja and will all be placed in three-man cells now. Together, you all will grow as individuals and as a team. Now, Team One…"

Shiori angled her head, looking at the other person that was beside her. The boy returned her gaze, his light brown eyes meeting hers with a small note of amusement. He was a transfer from Takigakure a few months back and Shiori didn't know much besides his name, his land of origin, and the fact that he doesn't like taijutsu that much.

"Team 3: Hatake Shiori…" her ears perked up and she turned to look at Iruka as he continued, "Nachi Haru…" her eyes fell on the boy beside her, "and Hoki Hajime."

Her eyes trailed to a boy that sat three rows down from her. His own bright green eyes met hers and his sun-kissed light brown hair fell over his forehead as he gave a grin and a small wave to Shiori and Haru.

_Well,_ Shiori thought, _at least I have friendly teammates._

"Team 9: Hyuga Neji… Tenten… Rock Lee."

Shiori's brows raised in interest and she looked to Rock Lee, who was given an exempt from doing the _Bunshin no Jutsu_ as a graduation test and instead given a taijutsu one. He barely passed, and she vaguely wondered how he'd do on a team with Neji, who got the highest scores overall out of all the graduates.

She realized her team was quite talented, as she had gotten the second-highest taijutsu score, Hajime the highest genjutsu score, and Haru the second-highest ninjutsu score. She also knew for a fact she and her teammates were in the top five of the other categories in their class of forty-five.

Tenten, Neji's other teammate, was another top five scorer, having scored high in all categories except taijutsu, where she made top ten, which was still commendable.

Iruka wrapped up his pep talk after, and went on to explain their Jonin sensei would come after lunch was over.

The class was adjourned, and Neji quietly took out his bento, causing Shiori to turn to him curiously as she saw from the corner of her eye, Hajime was walking towards them.

"Aren't you going to eat with your teammates?" Shiori asked, cocking her head to the side.

"I'll be eating lunch with them practically every day for the foreseeable future," Neji simply replied calmly. "Why should I start now?"

"To build up that teamwork!" Hajime exclaimed, now near the three newly-promoted Genin.

Neji gave a small grunt, turning to face the window, ignoring Shiori and her newly-formed team.

"Well, we already know each other," Hajime commented, brushing his brunet locks out of his face. "How about we tell each other something we don't know?"

"How about a haircut?" Haru pointed to Hajime's long hair, taking note that it was reaching near the end of his shoulders.

"I'm going later today." He cleared his throat and explained, "Well, I come from the Hoki Clan and have been trained in Medical Ninjutsu, so rely on me when you're injured." Hajime gave a bright smile and Shiori found herself returning the gesture.

Haru leaned forward, propping his chin on top of his palm, looking at his male teammate. "If we're talking about abilities… As you guys know, I'm from Kirigakure and I know Ranton jutsu."

Shiori and Hajime arched their brows and looked at the former transfer student. "So can I," they echoed, before they looked at the other incredulously. Haru's brows disappeared into his bangs and Neji moved his eyes to focus on the team beside him out of curiosity. All three of them possessed the same chakra elements?

Neji glanced at the silver-haired girl that wedged herself in his life. He was perfectly content being alone and everyone was fine leaving him to himself; but the girl two years his junior beside him absolutely refused to let him be.

\---

"Hyuga Neji and Hatake Shiori."

Seven-year-old Neji silently observed the young girl that had just transferred to his class. She was the smallest in his class, which made sense, considering she was originally part of the beginning class. Based on recommendation and skill, though, she was pushed to his class.

From their monthly test, Neji could see the young girl was rightfully in his class, given her status as one of the top five scorers. It made sense, considering her lineage. Neji had heard of _Kakashi no Sharingan_ , who picked her up from the Academy every now and then.

"Hi!" the young girl bounced over to him, grinning widely at him, showing off her white baby teeth. Neji simply looked at her, giving no greeting. She wasn't deterred, and grinned. "So you're a Hyuga, huh? That means you must be really good at taijutsu!"

Neji simply said nothing, but got ready. Shiori frowned slightly, but got into a fighting stance as well.

"Begin!"

Neji watched in interest as the young girl's demeanor changed. Gone was the cheerful, happy girl. Replaced was a serious, determined girl with blue eyes as cool as steel. She waited a beat, scanning Neji before disappearing.

Neji's eyes widened in shock, surprised at the speed for her age. However, a shadow gave her away and he jumped out of the way, just as she landed where he was.

He whirled around, throwing a punch, taking advantage of the time she needed to recover. It was easily deflected and before he felt a light _thump_ where his right shoulder was.

"Winner: Hatake Shiori!"

Shiori grinned widely. "You were open here." She stepped away from the ring and Neji's eyes followed her. She had talent, that one.

\---

Following lunch, the new Genin were ordered to sit at desks with the new teammates. Seeing as Shiori and her teammates were already sitting nearby, Neji chose to get up quietly and leave. He gave a small "Bye," to Shiori's enthusiastic, "Bye, Neji!"

"I can't believe you're friends with him," Hajime sighed, climbing over the desk and sitting where Neji was originally.

"I'm more surprised that she got a response," Haru commented from Shiori's other side.

Shiori frowned, looking at her teammates. "He's a nice guy." At their looks, she elaborated, "When he wants to be. He's just got… some issues."

"I'll say," Hajime muttered, but pushed the topic no further. He didn't want to upset Shiori. They had limited interactions before all this, but she was always friendly. A bit cheeky, but that was fine.

"I wonder which sensei will come first…" Shiori mused aloud before the door suddenly slid open with a loud _clack_.

Her eyes widened in shock at the great timing and then pursed her lips. She put a fist over her mouth when she spotted the man clad neck to toe in green spandex with orange leg warmers. At the wide grin that practically blinded her, she instantly felt pity for the team that had him as a Jonin sensei. Might Guy was a handful.

"Where is my wonderful, youthful team?!" he cried happily, scanning around. "Calling Team 9!"

Shiori choked on air as she immediately glanced to where Neji, Lee, and Tenten were. Neji and Tenten looked like they wanted to disappear whereas Lee looked on with a determined look. He raised his hand in the air. "Here, sensei!"

Guy turned to Lee and grinned. "Excellent! Come! Meet me at the roof where we can learn all of each other's youthful lives!" Without another word, he disappeared.

Some giggled in amusement at Team 9's Jonin sensei's entrance, but were all silenced by Neji's sharp glare. He looked like he wanted to murder someone as he pushed himself out of his seat, heading out the room with his teammates shortly behind him.

"Of course Guy-sensei would be the one to be here first," Shiori commented.

"You know him?" her brunet teammate looked at her curiously.

Shiori smiled slightly. "He calls himself Papa's 'eternal rival.'"

The door slid again, this time more gently as a man stepped into the room. Shiori looked curiously at the young, handsome man with short black hair that was parted to the right side, covering his black hitai-ate slightly. He looked around with his bright blue eyes that resembled the skies.

He was dressed in black clothing that was similar to the Jonin uniform with a flak jacket over him.

"Team 3?" he looked around patiently.

Shiori, Hajime, and Haru pushed themselves up. " _Hai_!" The man looked up at them and smiled and Shiori was reminded of a prince.

"C'mon," their sensei gestured for them to follow him. "We're going to be getting to know each other."

Shiori led the way for them to follow their sensei. He led them to the training grounds of the Academy and they all took a seat underneath a tree.

"My name's Miura Kyo, and I'll be your sensei," their sensei greeted with a small smile. "Let's start off to get to know each other. For example, your likes, your dislikes, your ambitions, your strengths, and your weaknesses. Let's start off with you." He looked at Haru, taking in his somewhat reserved appearance as his short hair was cropped just above his ears. His brown eyes scanned at his teammates and then to their sensei.

Haru opened his mouth and explained, "My name is Nachi Haru. I like swimming and training I don't really like the heat. My dream is to become a respectable shinobi and to…" he trailed off, pausing for a bit, "work with the demon inside me. I'm good at ninjutsu and I'm not terrible at it, but I'm not the best at taijutsu."

"Demon…?" Hajime looked at Haru thoughtfully.

Haru looked thoughtful for a bit before explaining, "I uh… I have the Three-Tails from Kirigakure sealed inside of me." He hesitated for a bit and explained, "I… I suppose since we're teammates now, I should let you know." He frowned a bit, letting out his secret. It was the reason why he and his family left Kirigakure. The village shunned him for what he had no control over and only looked to him as a weapon.

Kyo stayed silent, looking at the dark-haired boy in front of him. He already was privy to this information and he glanced at his two other students, watching carefully at the thoughtful looks on their faces.

"Okay," Shiori finally said.

Haru looked absolutely confused. "What?"

"Okay," Shiori repeated. "We'll help you control your powers!" She stood up, her hands in eager fists. "It'll be really helpful, right? You can be an even better shinobi if you can control whatever is sealed inside you, right?"

"Shiori," Hajime grabbed one of Shiori's wrists. "He has something that's similar to the Nine-Tails that attacked."

The silverette looked at Hajime. She knew what the Nine-Tails was. Everyone knew. "So?" she asked, looking at her teammate strangely. "What's that got to do with anything? It's not like Haru did anything."

Hajime looked thoughtful for a moment, remember what his clan taught him about how dangerous and evil the Nine-Tails was. Then he looked at Haru, who didn't meet his eyes. He thought back to their lunch conversation, which was normal and actually quite fun.

Kyo watched carefully as the light haired boy on his team reach over to the Jinchuriki of their team, and threw his arm around the boy, bringing him close. "Yeah, Shiori's right. We'll totally help you."

Haru gave a small smile and Kyo couldn't help getting one either. He had a good team. Kyo looked over at the girl who was still standing and chuckled, "Why don't you introduce yourself next, Ojou-chan?"

He smiled at her, taking in the way her wavy pigtails bounced as the wavy bangs that framed her face almost looked blonde in the shadow of the trees. Her large, bright blue eyes that were a couple shades darker than his own burned with determination and confidence. It made sense why she was so confident. He had seen the brief explanation of his team and knew that if they could pass tomorrow's test, they'd be a team that would go down in history.

Shiori grinned cheekily before stating, "My name's Hatake Shiori! I like training and eating. I don't really like being bored, so I always try to hang out with someone. Oh, I also don't like onions. I wanna be a strong kunoichi so I can protect everyone I love and be fast enough to help them! I always want to be there for them." She smiled fondly. "I think my strengths are taijutsu, especially my speed. I'm really fast. I'm also good with shurikenjutsu. My weakness would have to be genjutsu."

"Oh, I can help you with that," Hajime pointed out to Shiori, regarding her weakness. Shiori nodded before plopping herself down between her teammates.

The boy brushed his hair out of the way and Kyo wondered if he was growing out his hair. Hajime looked around and said, "Guess I'm the only one left so I'll go. My name's Hoki Hajime. I like training and reading. I don't like the cold. I want to be a great ninja so I can support my teammates and friends. My strengths are iryo-ninjutsu and genjutsu. My weakness would have to be ninjutsu, but I'm not that bad."

Kyo crossed his arms, nodding thoughtfully. Listening to their introductions, he realized that he had quite a balanced team. "Anything else I should know?"

He watched as his three students glanced at each other before they announced at the same time, "We all can use Ranton jutsu."

Kyo blinked. That was something he was not informed. "You all use Storm Release?" he repeated, just to be sure. When they nodded, he hummed in thought. "That's quite rare for an entire team… a _Genin_ team at that, to know two elemental types. This would be very good with team attacks." He was mainly more of a Wind Release user, but he was pretty decent in Lightning and Water Releases.

"But first…" Kyo stood up, brushing the dirt off his pants. "You have to pass one final test." Three pairs of young, curious, large eyes looked up at him. He smirked. They were kind of cute. "Meet at the Second Training Ground tomorrow morning at seven." Without another word, he disappeared in a poof of smoke.

"I wonder what the test is…" Haru crossed his arms thoughtfully.

Shiori stood up again, brushing the dirt off her blue shorts. "Guess we'll find out tomorrow. I guess we can go home now, right?"

"I'd assume so," Hajime nodded, standing up himself. Haru followed suit. "Did you guys want to get dinner later tonight?"

Shiori frowned. "My Papa should be coming home from his mission today. He said he'd treat me out for passing my Genin exam before he left last week." She snapped her fingers thoughtfully, "How about we go tomorrow with Kyo-sensei so he can pay?"

Haru and Hajime gave grins before Hajime threw his arm over Shiori. It was quite different than doing it to Kyoya, since Shiori was so much smaller. "I like how you think, Shiori."

Shiori returned the grin and pulled away from him, eager to see her father. "I'll see you guys tomorrow!"

"Bye!" Haru and Hajime waved before they watched Shiori jump into the air, landing on the fence that separated the Academy from the streets. She jumped once again, disappearing from their sight.

"I'll see you tomorrow then?" Haru looked at Hajime once Shiori was gone.

"Yeah," Hajime nodded. Haru gave a small wave before starting to walk away. The brunet waited a beat before exclaiming, "Wait, Haru!" He ran after the boy, catching up with him as they headed to the Academy entrance.

Haru moved his brown eyes to look at the slightly taller boy. He waited, wondering what his teammate wanted to say.

"Sorry," Hajime apologized. "About earlier. About the whole…" his voice was brought down to a whisper, "Nine-Tails thing."

Haru blinked in surprise. He wasn't expecting an apology. He gave a small smile to Hajime, stating, "Don't worry about it."

Hajime shook his head stubbornly. "No, no," he refused. "I shouldn't have said that. You're my teammate and my friend now. We're _nakama_."

The dark haired boy looked taken aback before he gave a small smile. "I'll forgive you if you treat me to a small snack."

"Deal!" Hajime exclaimed. "Dango okay?"

"I'll go order ten sticks then," Haru took off.

"W-wait! I don't have that much money!" Hajime cried, running after the Jinchuriki. Haru gave a laugh and Hajime couldn't help but laugh, running past some Academy students who were currently leaving.

A small, young boy with spiky blond hair and large, sky blue eyes looked up from the floor as he heard the cheerful laughs. He looked up just in time to see two boys with hitai-ate around their foreheads glinting against the sun as they ran past him.

He gave a small, rueful smile, the whiskers on his cheeks moving slightly. _One day,_ he thought. _One day, I'll have a teammate I can laugh with._


	2. The Test of Teamwork

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team 3 realizes there's one more test they have to take before they can be real ninjas.

“ _Ohayo_!” Shiori greeted, waving to the two boys who were talking amongst themselves in the clearing.

At the sound, the two turned, giving Shiori small smiles of acknowledgement. “Shiori!” Hajime exclaimed, waving the girl over. Haru gave a small nod of acknowledgement, causing the young girl to smile wider.

“How’d you sleep?”

“Like a baby,” Shiori sighed out. “Papa treated me to okonomiyaki and then dango afterwards. It was sooo good!”

Hajime gave a small chuckle before a poof of smoke appeared before them. When the smoke cleared, Kyo stood in front of his students, a smile on his face. “Good morning.”

“ _Ohayo gozaimasu_ , Kyo-sensei!” his three students greeted, causing the man to smile. They were so cute. They all watched as he pulled an alarm clock from his weapons pouch.

Kyo placed the clock on a nearby tree stump and they saw that it was already pre-set for at time. “All right,” Kyo announced. “C’mon, gather round. I won’t bite…” He threw them a casual smirk, “yet.”

The young genin shuffled closer to the jonin and he gave a smile before a ringing echoed through the field as their eyes went to two bells. “Now, the rules are simple: get the bells from me before noon. Anything goes, but there is a catch.” He watched them carefully as their eyes narrowed in suspicion. “The person without a bell at noon will be sent back to the academy.”

Kyo watched as their faces shift to pure surprise as the three glanced at each other. What threw him off, however, was that they all stood up straighter in silence, giving each other one last look. “Okay,” all three of them said at once.

Kyo’s brows disappeared into his bangs. Usually, they would start arguing or protesting. _What an interesting team I’ve been given._

“All right…” Kyo said after a beat of silence and they said nothing. He glanced at the clock, seeing it was 7:04. “We’ll begin…” he waited for it to be 7:05, “now!”

At once, the three genin dispersed, leaving Kyo in the now-empty field by himself. He wondered what his little students were up to.

Not so far away, Shiori crouched in the tree with Haru and Hajime. “There’s no way we can take down a jonin by ourselves,” she said without preamble.

Her two teammates nodded at her. “Truce until we get the bells?” Hajime proposed. They both nodded, but then looked at Haru, who was deep in thought. “What is it?”

Haru glanced at the male teammate before looking at Shiori. “What… what if that’s not the case?” he asked.

“What do you mean?” Shiori cocked her head to the side. She was fine with teaming up with Haru and Hajime and then it becoming a free for all.

Haru looked at Shiori and he blinked. Were her eyes always that bright? He shook his head. Nah, it was probably the darkness of the trees they were hiding in. “Think about it. We graduated from the academy, but we have to do another challenge?”

“You’re saying us being sent back to the academy is a fib?” Hajime inquired curiously.

“Not quite,” Haru shook his head and it was like he could see something lighting up in Shiori’s head.

“The purpose isn’t to just get the bells,” she murmured, seeing recognition pop into Hajime’s head.

“The purpose is to work together,” Hajime finished. His theory was further backed by his teammates.

Shiori looked at all of them and recited, “A ninja must see the hidden meanings within the hidden meanings.”

“All right,” Hajime nodded. “What do we do?” Both he and Haru looked at Shiori.

The young girl blinked in astonishment. “Wait, why me?” She wasn’t used to others stepping her back in order for her to take charge. In fact, they usually forced her into submission.

“You teamed up with Neji a few times and decisively beat everyone during mock survival tests, didn’t you?” Hajime inquired. “Who’s the leader generally?”

“Me,” Shiori answered without hesitation. “Neji was only leader once.”

“If that prideful jerk lets you take command, that means something,” Hajime responded, ignoring Shiori’s “He’s really nice when you get to know him,” comment. He looked at Haru and said, “I don’t know about you, but I think Shiori’s tactics would do us really well.”

Haru nodded. “I agree.”

Shiori gave a sigh. “All right then. But I prefer if we stand as equals in the future,” she murmured, her voice lowering, and the three inched closer to each other. The two boys nodded. “I don’t know what Kyo-sensei can do, but it’s gotta be something, since that crow’s been looking at us for a while…” She moved her eyes to their northwest.

The other two followed her gaze and almost lost their balance as a lone crow stood on a nearby branch, eyeing them carefully.

“That means he can summon animals,” Shiori responded. “From the looks of it: crows.”

Back at the field opening, Kyo smirked as he sat on the tree stump. He stood up, stretching slightly as he saw his genin huddled closer. _They’re good_ , Kyo thought to himself. Never had the genin before them realized he had a summoning. _Time to get some exercise in._

A couple minutes later, the bushes rustled before a streak popped out. He pulled out his kunai, stopping Shiori’s attack as she appeared before him. Their kunai clashed with a loud _clang_ and Kyo’s foot shuffled back slightly from the intense weight.

With her speed, she was able to propel her full body weight, pushing against him. _Leave it to Kakashi’s kid to be stupid fast,_ he thought with a heavy groan. Kakashi was probably the fastest of all the regular jonin in the village, second only to Gai when he unlocked his gates.

It was smart of him to train her to utilize her speed, considering she was so small. Kyo made a mental note to help her focus on that before he noticed two blurs heading towards him from both sides. He shifted his grip and swiped up, causing Shiori to lose her balance and fall back.

She caught herself quickly, doing a one-handed back handspring and landing safely on her feet before Kyo jumped into the air, dodging Haru and Hajime, who came at him from both sides. As Kyo flipped in the air, his eyes met Hajime’s bright green ones. The two narrowly avoided each other before front-flipping to land on their feet.

When Kyo landed, he almost lost his balance as the floor beneath him suddenly got muddy. He frowned as he stumbled, before a hole opened up beneath him. His eyes widened before he formed a hand seal, “ _Kai_!”

He grabbed both of Haru and Shiori’s fists, tossing them into the air before they could grab his bells. He frowned, looking at Hajime in the distance, who relaxed his stance. “You have the highest genjutsu score out of everyone on this team.”

“Ya got me,” Hajime tossed him a toothy grin. “Too bad we weren’t fast enough.”

“ _Suiton: Teppodama_!”

Kyo jumped out of the way, dodging the fast water bullet before a shadow appeared from above him. His eyes widened in shock as he spotted a giant water dragon, its large yellow eyes looking down at him. “ _Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu_!” he heard Haru’s voice.

Kyo quickly formed hand seals. “ _Futon: Kuki Dangan_!” He blew out multiple wind bullets, putting a lot more force into it to destroy the water dragon. The water dragon splashed to the floor, wetting the ground and causing mud to form as Kyo landed on it easily.

He watched as a black cloud began to form beneath him, electricity crackling through it. He frowned, not recognizing the jutsu. He looked up, seeing Shiori and Hajime looking at him, removing their hands from their _Horse_ symbol. His eyes widened, seeing the two use a jutsu at the same time.

“ _Ranton: Raiunkuha_ ,” Shiori informed him.

Kyo’s brows furrowed. The Storm Release?

“ _Ranton: Laser Circus_!”

Kyo’s eyes widened jumping out of the way, landing on a nearby branch. They _all_ could use the Storm Release? While it wasn’t super rare for a team to all have the same element, it was different when everyone on the team had the same _two_ elements.

 _Also, normally genin don’t even_ know _two elemental styles, much less fusing them,_ Kyo thought to himself. He was in for a treat training these kids.

Shiori jumped towards him, engaging him in a battle of taijutsu. She used her speed efficiently, blocking and attacking, but they were at a stalemate. Of course, Kyo was also going easy on her, but he was still impressed that she was able to keep up with him. Everytime Hajime or Haru would come, they would be easily thwarted, as they weren't that experienced in hand-to-hand combat.

Though, he shouldn’t have been too surprised by Shiori’s skills, given who raised her. He watched as Hajime healed a nasty cut Haru had gotten on his cheek and he had to note that the Hokage really outdid himself when he made this team.

The balance of this team was amazing, with each of them not only able to cover their weaknesses, but also work off of each others’ strengths to create something even stronger.

Hatake Shiori was a taijutsu specialist, second only to the Hyuga that graduated in her class. Her speed was amazing and from the looks of it, her stamina wasn’t so bad either. It was still a bit low, though, but he chalked that up to her inexperience in a true battle. Her offense was impressive, utilizing her small stature to avoid but still keep up with Kyo physically.

Hoki Hajime was a genjutsu specialist and given his lineage and what Kyo was witnessing, he was going to be a talented medical nin in the future. He was able to do the basic healing jutsu, which someone fresh out of the academy should not be capable of. Compared to Shiori’s offense, he was an amazing support and defense shinobi.

Nachi Haru was definitely an enigma. He definitely wasn’t showing exactly what he was capable of, but that most likely has to do with his fear of the Jinchuriki inside of him. Out of all of them, Haru definitely looked the least tired, which wasn’t surprising, given his chakra reserves. Haru was the perfect balance of offense and defense.

Shiori pulled back, shrinking into the dark cloud of lightning that was created earlier by her and Hajime. He glanced over and saw Haru and Hajime had disappeared as well, utilizing the dark clouds.

Kyo frowned, before his eyes widened, feeling dark, ominous chakra around him. Haru stepped out of the clouds and the older man watched the red, translucent tail made out of chakra that swayed behind him slowly. Haru looked at him with a calm expression, before darting at Kyo with an amazing speed.

Kyo barely had time to react, dodging the claws that went towards him. “You can control the Sanbi?”

“His name is Isobu,” was Kyo’s response as a second tail formed. Kyo was sent flying back at a punch he tried to block. He caught himself before he crashed into a tree and kicked off the tree, feeling the bark fly off the tree from his force.

He charged towards Haru, but before he could land an attack, a wave of water appeared from the ground, preventing his attack from going through. He glanced over at Hajime and the boy gave a small wave. “Should you really be distracted by me?”

His eyes widened as Haru jumped through the water, the chakra giving him a protective cloak and he slid to the side, watching as Haru punched a hole through the ground.

He heard the sound of shuriken flying towards him and he pulled out a kunai, blocking the weapons, letting it bounce off. “Nice try, Shiori, but you’ll have to do better than that!”

Shiori stepped out of the clouds as it started to fade away and she smiled. “You sure, Kyo-sensei?”

He furrowed his brow before he shifted to look at her, but then saw something. A red, translucent chakra trail was wrapped around her legs, once hidden by the clouds. It started to retract and Kyo followed it with his eyes, watching the third tail go back to Haru.

The dark haired boy held out an open palm and the once-long tail dropped something into his hand before fading away completely. Kyo’s eyes widened when he spotted the two silver bells in the boy’s hand.

Haru gave him a smirk as Shiori and Hajime walked up beside him, grinning.

Kyo gave a heavy sigh, unable to stop the laugh that bubbled in his chest. “Ya got me…” he placed a palm over his face. “Good job, you three,” he said, just as the alarm rang throughout the field.

Kyo walked over to the clock, turning off the insistent ringing before spotting two shuriken on the floor near where he was standing. A recognition dawned on his face.

“ _Kage Shuriken no Jutsu_ ,” Shiori said, stepping up to the sensei with her teammates. Haru handed over the bells, which Kyo took back.

“I should’ve known,” the jonin muttered.

“But you didn’t,” Shiori quipped, causing the man to simply shrug. She was right. He got too cocky and let his guard down. He internally chuckled. He looked forward to working with this team.

“So do we pass?” Hajime inquired, looking at the man. “It was to see if we could work together, right?”

Kyo wasn’t surprised that he revealed that bit of knowledge. He was watching them, after all. “Yes,” he responded. “Congratulations. You guys are now officially Team Kyo.”

The three formed a circle and high-fived each other, the sound of bells ringing in the air as their hands connected.

* * *

“I don’t know if I can keep treating you kiddos when you eat so much,” Kyo gave a teasing smile, watching as Shiori received her next set of dango. His only female student looked back at him with wide, innocent blue eyes. He smirked. She knew exactly what she was doing, that sneaky kunoichi.

As a celebration of their team forming, Kyo had treated them out to dango. He was, however, started to regret it, looking at the six plates that Shiori had already put away. She had eaten a total of eighteen dango and had just ordered three more. Where the hell did that tiny girl put it away?

She was about to say something, when she noticed a figure walk by, his hands in his pockets, eyes focused ahead of him. “Excuse me,” she muttered to her teammates, leaving her seat, taking the dango sticks with her.

“Talk about dining and dashing,” Hajime commented. His eyes fell on the boy she ran after, seeing the red and white fan symbol. “He’s-”

“Sasuke!” Shiori called out.

The boy stopped walking at her voice, recognizing it immediately. He turned around, looking at her with cool eyes. “Shiori,” he said coolly. His eyes fell to the hitai-ate wrapped around her forehead. Inside his pockets, his hands clenched into fists. He knew he was jealous of her talent, but he chose not to let his anger out on her. After all, she was helping him get stronger and she was his constant support, even from the very beginning.

* * *

Sasuke let out a huff, his lips stinging as the little bit of fire died from his lips. He winced when he touched his lips, which were lightly burned from the jutsu he was learning.

He jumped when something cold suddenly touched the back of his neck. He heard a light giggling and whirled around, recognizing the voice. “Shiori-chan!” he cried out in shock.

The silverette in front of him stopped giggling and smiled brightly at her friend. “Hiya, Sasuke! Looks like you might need this,” she said, handing him a cold water bottle. He took it gratefully and the cold water felt heavenly on his warm lips.

Once he finished, he closed the water bottle and asked, “What are you doing here?”

“Mikoto-san said you’d be here. She said you were practicing the _Gokakyu no Jutsu_ , so I decided to head home to get some cold water first before coming here,” Shiori explained. “I’m spending the night.”

Sasuke nodded his head. More often than not, Shiori’s father was away on missions because according to her, he was a super strong ninja and his parents have explained that he was a very respectable jonin and thus sent on long missions. Because of this, Sasuke’s parents were entrusted with Shiori so she didn’t have to be home alone. When her dad was home, she’d be followed by a dog. Sasuke liked the dogs. They were really nice and they talked.

“How is it going?”

Sasuke frowned. “Not well. The most I get is a fireball this big,” he gestured with his hands, about half a meter apart. “I don’t know why it’s not coming out bigger.”

“Hm…” Shiori looked thoughtful. “What do you imagine?”

“A fireball in front of my lips,” Sasuke responded.

Shiori nodded and looked thoughtful for a second. “How about you imagine the flow first?”

Sasuke cocked his head to the side. “The flow?”

“Yeah,” Shiori nodded. “Look.” She started to form hand seals with her hands. Sasuke read them, wondering what jutsu it was because it wasn’t what he was learning. He watched as she pulled back and exhaled, a water ball flying out of her mouth at incredible speed.

“Whoa!” Sasuke exclaimed. “What was that?!”

“ _Suiton: Teppodama_ ,” Shiori explained with a smile. “I just learned it two days ago after practicing for two weeks. Papa showed me it!”

“You’re so smart, Shiori-chan!” Sasuke exclaimed. He was a bit envious that Shiori had mastered her first jutsu and was in the grade above him despite being only five years old, but he was also proud of having such a talented best friend.

Shiori’s cheeks flushed pink. “It’s a basic jutsu,” she waved off. “Anyway, it’s pretty similar to your jutsu. What I imagine is the chakra in my belly moving up when I inhale, then when I exhale, I push the chakra out, focusing around the lips so it doesn’t explode everywhere.” She frowned. “It sucks if it does that.”

“Did you choke?”

Shiori sighed. “Water even came out of my nose six times,” she sounded almost defeated. Sasuke let out a giggle and Shiori let out one in response as well.

When their laughter settled, Shiori smiled. “C’mon. Let’s practice.” Sasuke nodded and began to form the hand seals, with Shiori by his side.

* * *

Sasuke snapped out of his memory as the girl waved a stick of dango in front of him. He frowned. “You know I don’t like sweets.”

“You were just in la la land and I wanted you back,” Shiori responded, taking the dango out of his face and eating it. “I wasn’t offering it.”

Sasuke looked at her slightly annoyed. “What do you want, Shiori?”

“Jeez,” Shiori frowned, though not really hurt by his statement. She was used to it, considering she hung out with Neji a lot. “I just wanted to say hi since it’s been like a week.” She recognized the way that he was going and asked, “You wanna train?”

Sasuke gave her a silent glance and Shiori smiled back. That’s all she needed. She finished the rest of her dango and threw them in a nearby trash can. “C’mon,” she said, grabbing his wrist. “Let’s go!”

“Hey! Don’t pull!”

Shiori let out a giggle and all but dragged Sasuke to the training grounds she and her team used.

As she ran off with the Uchiha, Kyo looked thoughtful while Haru and Hajime looked on, interested.

“I didn’t know she knew the Uchiha the grade below us,” Hajime commented casually. Who hadn’t heard of the last surviving member of the Uchiha clan? He turned to Haru, “Did you?”

Haru shook his head. “We just started getting to know each other just yesterday.”

“Oh yeah, that’s true,” Hajime mused. “So she’s friends with the Hyuga and Uchiha geniuses. I guess geniuses just attract each other, huh?”

“Hyuga genius?” Kyo echoed.

Hajime snagged a stick of dango and ate one of the balls. “Hyuga Neji. He’s on Team 9. Graduated top of our class.”

“Oh, Guy’s team.”

“Did you mention me, Kyo?” a deep voice asked behind the three, causing the two genin to jump in shock while Kyo sighed heavily.

“Hey there, Guy,” the dark-haired man greeted. “How are you?”

“Wonderful!” Guy gave a bright smile that almost blinded Hajime and Haru. “Meet my wonderful team that successfully passed the test!” He gestured to the three behind him. Kyo took a note of the Hyuga who looked visibly annoyed, the girl with twin buns kind of embarrassed, and a boy who had large brows look at Guy in admiration. He spotted Hajime and Haru and inquired, “Did they pass?”

“Have a seat,” Kyo gestured to the three other genin, showing them where Shiori was originally sitting across from them on the table. “Yes, they did pass.”

Before Guy could inquire where the third member was, Neji asked, “Where’s Shiori?” to no one in general.

Hajime gave a sigh, leaning forward and resting his chin on his right palm. “Ran off with the Uchiha in the grade below us.”

If Kyo wasn’t so observant, he wouldn’t have noticed the way the Hyuga gave the smallest of frowns before a poker face appeared on his face. He arched a brow in interest, but the Hyuga’s small annoyance disappeared as fast as it appeared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, Neji doesn't like Shiori. He just gets annoyed when Shiori spends time with Sasuke because he's an ass. We're in for a long ride with her. I'd ideally like to keep the story OC-centric more than anything else tbh.


	3. The Will of Fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More of a filler-y episode in terms of progression, but I wanted to write more about Shiori's relationships with other characters besides Neji lol.

“Get together!” the photographer called, gesturing in the air for the team in front of him to move closer.

Shiori felt Haru and Hajime come closer, squeezing her from both sides. She threw her arms around her teammates’ waists and she felt them shift slightly and glanced up at them. They smiled down at her before she beamed back.

Kyo smiled, seeing the small interaction between his students. It was precious how much they cared for each other already. He placed his hands on the boys’ shoulders, squeezing them gently.

“Excellent! Keep those smiles! Now look at the camera!”

Shiori turned to look at the camera, beaming widely. The flash temporarily blinded her and the cameraman gave a small grin as he pulled away from the curtain. “Perfect! We’ll give your sensei the picture next week.”

“Thank you,” the four of them bowed slightly before leaving the Hokage building together.

“Time for our first mission,” Kyo said, pulling out a scroll from his pouch.

Shiori and her teammates watched with interest and Kyo unrolled it, looking at it in deep thought. “Hm…” He closed the scroll and looked at his students, who were watching him with interest. “Let’s go.” He smiled and began to lead them.

Kyo couldn’t help but think that he was a mother duck with three ducklings following after him in a uniform line. The ducklings fell out of line once they were more comfortable that it wasn’t such a big mission and began to chat to each other, wondering what the mission would be.

“It’s logically something like picking up trash from a river,” Haru pointed out, seeing as they were in a residential area. There wouldn’t be any fights breaking out.

“You’re doing something similar,” Kyo said as he led them to a nearby house. An older woman rushed out of her house, greeting them. “Hello! Hello! You must be the help they've sent!”

“Yes,” Kyo nodded. He turned to his students and explained, “This is Tsuri-san. She needs help with the weeds in her garden.”

Tsuri gave a kind smile at the three, the wrinkles around her eyes creasing. “Yes. The weeds are quite stubborn and my back isn’t the best. I also need help planting my flowers if you kids would be so kind.”

“Of course,” Shiori said promptly. She knew what D-rank missions entailed. They were just little chores around the village. After all, helping the villagers in need with the basics came first.

“Excellent!” Tsuri exclaimed before she brought them to her backyard.

Shiori gave a sigh and bent down, grabbing some weeds and pulling it out of their roots.

It took approximately an hour for all the weeds to be pulled, since Hajime insisted they did another full check of the garden to make sure they got all they could.

And so, Shiori found herself wearing gloves as she patted the dirt around the stem of flowers, planting the beautiful plants in Tsuri’s garden.

“Good job, team,” Kyo complimented once they were finished another hour later. "You guys ready for some training, now?"

Shiori brushed off the dirt on her knees, flexing her wrists. "Yeah!" she pumped up before digging out some soil underneath her nails. There was a tiny rock under her middle fingernail and it bothered her. "Are we gonna learn a new jutsu?"

Kyo chuckled. "Now, now. While I have a good idea of your guys' abilities, I want to see how you all do against each other first."

* * *

And that was how Shiori found herself on the ground an hour later, pinned by Haru's larger body with a kunai at her throat. She panted heavily, looking into the Jinchuriki's brown eyes. She flinched slightly as a drop of his sweat landed on her cheek.

Haru withdrew his weapon and stood up, extending a hand towards his teammate. She took it and he lifted her easily before Hajime walked up to them, his left cheek slightly red from a well-placed punch from Shiori earlier.

Kyo clapped slowly, causing the three young ninjas to glance at him. "Excellent," he praised. "It's good that during training you guys give it your all. Don't be afraid to go all out on each other. The more you learn about the effects of your teammates' moves, the better understanding you have of them. That doesn't mean kill each other, but it does mean a bruised rib or so lets you all know each others' abilities."

He stopped in front of the three of them, casting a shadow over them. "It's very strange to have a team with the same elemental signatures. Even more strange to have a _Genin_ team that understands Chakra nature already. Normally we explain that before the Chunin Exams. Now the question is, how good is your guys' chakra control?"

"Uh… I can walk up a wall, if that helps." Shiori raised her hand. The other two also raised their hands, nodding.

Kyo blinked, before a small smirk appeared on his face. "Of course you guys can," he scoffed. "What about water?" Seeing the three frown, he let out a laugh. "I guess you three are just kids. Come tomorrow with swimsuits. I'm going to make you guys the Genin team with the best chakra control in the nation."

The trio nodded before Kyo gave a small smile and bid his farewell.

“Did you guys want to train a little bit more?” Hajime proposed.

Shiori frowned, looking down at her knapsack. “I actually needed to get a few more weapons,” she admitted. “I’d totally be up for it tomorrow, though.”

“That’s fine,” Hajime threw his hands behind his head, supporting it. He leaned back and shrugged. “It’s cool. I need at least one help for this new jutsu I’m working on.”

“New jutsu?” Shiori gasped, standing straighter. “Which?”

“ _Suiton: Mizurappa,_ ” Hajime responded. “I figured it’d be a good jutsu to gain some distance between enemies. Once I master it, I’d totally be down to help you guys learn it.”

Haru looked thoughtful before saying, “I think we should stay together to train after practice at least three times a week.”

His teammates looked at him, then each other, before nodding. “Yeah, that’s a great idea,” Shiori said. “We don’t always have to do too much extra practice,” she explained. “I think just spending time together works, too.”

“I don’t know if I actually want to spend _time_ with you,” Hajime teased. He let out a laugh when Shiori gave him a light push and he threw his arm around the youngest member of the team.

“I’m gonna kick your ass,” Shiori threatened.

“You already did earlier,” Haru pointed out, causing Hajime to let out a sigh of exasperation. The dark-haired boy gave a smile at the brunet, who pouted.

The silverette gave her teammates small hugs before waving goodbye, leaving them in the clearing and hurrying to find new weapons. Maybe she’d be able to finish quickly and join them.

She jumped from rooftop-to-rooftop, preferring the less-crowded air. She found the weapons store she and her father frequented, which was just a couple blocks away from her house.

The bell rang as she opened the door, with the owner calling out, “Welcome!”

Shiori smiled at the owner before walking over to the shuriken, musing over which ones she should get. She supposed she should get a fuma shuriken; it might be of use on a mission someday.

She grabbed the weapon and took a look at the kunai, grabbing a few new ones, before something caught her attention.

Her eyes moved to the display next to the kunai, observing the long blade. She blinked, her eyes scanning the katana before her. Each blade was similar to each other, but the hilts were unique and some blades were longer or shorter than the other, making them each unique in their own way. It was different from kunai and shuriken, which, for the most part, had a standard.

“Are you,” a voice paused to cough, “a kenjutsu user?” The voice coughed again and Shiori whirled around to see the person.

Her eyes met a rather pale and sickly man, with dark eyes with bags beneath them. His short brown hair was mostly hidden by his bandana that bore the Konoha symbol and he was dressed in the standard shinobi outfit. Shiori could see a rectangular hilt peeking behind him over his shoulder, showing off his specialty.

“You're Gekko Hayate-san,” Shiori muttered, recognizing the man. She had heard her father mention him in passing.

The man looked down at her, before he spoke, “You're Hatake Shiori, aren't you?” He gave a small cough. There were very few people in Konoha with silver hair.

Shiori flushed. “Yes.”

Hayate chuckled, reaching forward and placing a hand on Shiori's shoulder. “Kakashi has mentioned you.”

“Likewise,” Shiori smiled up at him. “He says you're one of Konoha's best kenjutsu users.”

Hayate chuckled before coughing again. “He's exaggerating.” He then sobered and said, “He didn't mention you were a kenjutsu user.”

Shiori shook her head. “I'm not. I know the basics, but everyone does.” At the Academy, every student was required to handle each weapon at least once. It was to give an insight on how a weapon worked and the most effective way to fight with or against it.

Hayate's eyebrows raised. “Would you,” he coughed, “like to learn?” There was something in her eyes that Hayate could see burn bright.

“I couldn't impose,” Shiori shook her head, looking at the weapon. It _would_ be interesting to learn the katana, though.

Hayate shook his head. “No,” he said. “We need more members of the younger generation to learn. I think you'll suit it quite well.”

“I don't even know where to start.”

The man smiled gently down at the girl. “That's why you'll have me.” He paused to cough before looking at the blades before grabbing one, handing it to Shiori. “This one might suit you best. It's shorter than most, but given your stature, it's the perfect length, especially for when you're starting off. You have muscle mass from already being a kunoichi, but wielding a katana is different than throwing shuriken and kunai. You'll need to use different muscles and you'll have to improve your wrists' flexibility and this weight should be good for that for now.”

Shiori placed her fuma shuriken down and moved the weapon, finding it much lighter than she thought. She was quite surprised, considering her father's ANBU-issued katana was much heavier and larger. She switched it to her right hand. Her dominant hand was her left, but she was ambidextrous like the majority of ninjas due to her training. With her weaker hand, it was still easy to wield. Hayate knew what he was talking about.

It was a standard katana, with a black hilt and white diamond designs on it. She smiled softly, seeing the square hilt of the weapon. Hayate watched quietly, seeing her observe the weapons and weigh the benefits of having a katana.

“How can I repay you for teaching me?” Shiori questioned.

Hayate gave her a gentle smile. “Just promise to protect this village and its people. That's all I ask.”

A warm pit filled Shiori's body as she looked into the eyes of the man. Physically, he looked tired and weak, but Shiori could see a fire burning in his eyes. A determination. A will. _A will of fire._

Shiori glanced out the large window of the store, watching villagers pass by, smiling and talking amongst themselves. Her eyes fell on a little boy who held onto his father's hand, pointing enthusiastically at a poster nearby.

“Of course,” she said, turning back to the man before her. He was smiling down at her; her actions showed him all he needed to know.

"How about we start right now?"

Shiori smiled brightly. "I would love nothing more, Hayate-sensei."

“Excellent,” Hayate smiled, before turning his head to cough slightly.

"Just let me grab a few bombs and then we can go,” Shiori spoke. Hayate nodded and went to go pay for his weapons, waiting patiently for the young girl to finish looking at the bombs. He watched her grab a few smoke and flash bombs before dragging the basket of weapons over to the front.

Hayate pulled out his wallet and he pulled out a few bills, handing it to the man behind the counter. Shiori frowned. “Hayate-sensei…” she said in protest.

“It’s fine,” Hayate insisted. Shiori frowned, but nodded, nonetheless. The girl waited patiently for Hayate to get his change, before she followed him out of the store, bag of weapons secure in her hands.

* * *

Hayate gave a small _hm_ as he looked at Shiori’s posture. “Well, your form is good,” he praised. “Grabbing from the top gives you more control and a better handle. It also allows you to change your grip.” He withdrew his own sword and Shiori mocked his posture.

“Two hands give you a firmer grip, but when you’ve become more adjusted, your one-handed kenjutsu will be just as strong as your two-handed,” Hayate advised.

Shiori nodded.

“Now sheathe the sword.” The young girl placed her sword back into the hilt that was wrapped around her left shoulder. “Normally, if you have a katana at your side, you’ll use your thumb to push out and pull into a quick, drawing cut. From the back, it’s slightly different. Your timing is the most important thing. When you draw from the back, it does expose you front a lot more. Throw a kunai at me.”

Hayate sheathed his sword and Shiori pulled out the small knife. She threw the weapon and in a flash, the kunai was at her feet and Hayate had his sword in his right hand. Her eyebrows shot up in astonishment as Hayate coughed.

“We won’t work with a kunai just yet,” Hayate explained. “First, you’ll have to master the art of drawing your weapon.”

Seeing Shiori’s frown, he chuckled. “It’s going to be one hell of a workout,” he explained. “If you’re not used to drawing your weapon, it’ll be terrible for you. If you don’t get used to gripping it correctly, it can get caught in your hilt. By mastering the quickdraw, you’ll be one step closer to becoming a swordmaster.”

“If you say so,” Shiori shrugged before reaching back. She pulled at her weapon, swinging it as she brought it out.

“Again.”

* * *

" _Tadaima!_ " Shiori called, throwing open the door to the apartment she lived in with her father.

Kakashi glanced up lazily from where he lounged on the armchair. "Oh, _okaeri,_ Shiori." He made a small questioning noise as he spotted the hilt that peaked out from over her left shoulder. "Did you get a new katana?"

Shiori skipped over to the older man. "Yup!" she reported. "Hayate-sensei has agreed to start giving me lessons on kenjutsu!"

"Hayate, huh? He's a really good teacher," Kakashi nodded in approval. "He gives lessons to the ANBU."

“Yeah, but all I did was sheath and unsheath my weapon today,” Shiori scratched her head. Her eyes fell to the tattoo that rested on Kakashi's left deltoid. “I met him at the weapons store,” she explained. “He gave lots of good advice and I thought it would be a good idea if I could use a sword.”

"Don't make me look bad, all right?" Kakashi gave a small smile. He caught the throw pillow his daughter launched at him. He let out a small chuckle. "Y'know, your dad was a great kenjutsu user, too."

Shiori blinked, not expecting that bit of knowledge.

They rarely spoke of her birth parents, seeing as Kakashi was never truly close to his cousin, as his father had shunned Kakashi's once he had failed to complete the one mission that would lead to the White Fang's demise.

The young girl was truly grateful for Kakashi taking her in.

She was born in Kumogakure, but her mother died giving birth to her and her father was KIA'ed a few months previously. Kakashi had travelled all the way to Kumo after hearing the news and didn't hesitate to take her in as his own, despite only being 16 at the time.

“Really?” She sat down on the armrest of Kakashi’s seat.

Kakashi nodded. “From what I was told, he was a member of Kumogakure’s ANBU.” He gave a small smile. “Sorry, I don’t know much about him to tell you about him. And I never knew your mother at all.”

Shiori shook her head and Kakashi felt her silver hair tickle the back of his wrist. “It’s okay,” she said. “I feel kind of bad for saying this, but I don’t feel like I’ve missed much, because you were always there for me.”

Kakashi tugged at Shiori’s loose strands - which were a glossier, lighter color of his hair - gently. She leaned forward and embraced him. “I love you, Papa.”

Kakashi’s strong, larger arms engulfed her and his heart warmed at how precious this girl was to him. After losing Obito, Rin, and Minato, he felt like he had had nothing. But the moment he saw this little child, with no more than a few tuffs of silver hair and glassy eyes, there was something that made him feel warmth and happiness again.

“I love you, too, Shiori.”

And he would do anything to protect that smile on his daughter’s face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a bunch of time skipping in this, my b. But there wasn't really much to write in-between, since it really consisted of them walking from one location to the next. I'm trying to follow the pacing of the actual Naruto anime/manga, but it's actually kind of difficult. I never realized how much time actually passed (or didn't).
> 
> Follow me on Twitter [@FangirlBaecy](http://www.twitter.com/FangirlBaecy) for updates and to chat! I'm always up to making new friends. My personal account is [@BaecyLele](http://http://www.twitter.com/BaecyLele) if you want to follow/Tweet at me on that account instead if you don't want Fire Emblem picture spams lol.


	4. C-Rank

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team goes on their first C-Rank mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I figured a timeskip is fine since the original manga actually timeskips to Naruto and his team do a bunch of regular missions before they actually go to the Land of Waves.

A month after becoming a full-fledged ninja, Shiori found herself once again in the mission room, awaiting their next mission.

Hiruzen hummed quietly as he observed the four standing before him patiently. His observant eyes watched Hajime shift restlessly ever so slightly while Shiori leaned on her left foot slightly, preferring it. His eyes fell on the sword handle that stuck behind her back, a new accessory as of three weeks ago. From what Hayate stated, she was improving quickly as a swordswoman.

“We have received positive reviews from the clients that have hired you, Team 3,” Hiruzen praised. “In fact, some insist on a bonus, which is fantastic. The only other team to have such high praises is Team 9.”

Shiori gave a small smile, glad to hear that Neji’s team was doing quite well. She had seen him a week ago, and had a sparring session that ended with three of her tenketsu being sealed off. Neji was on his way to mastering the Byakugan, which filled her with great pride.

“I saw Lee the other day,” Hajime whispered quietly to Shiori. “He looks  _ exactly _ like Guy-sensei.” Shiori’s brows disappeared underneath her bangs and she let out a soft whistle.

“I’m not surprised,” Haru commented, scratching his neck. “He already looked like he could be Guy-sensei’s nephew before.”

“Now, now,” Kyo directed their attention gently. “Let’s finish hearing what Hokage-sama has to say first.” The three young ninjas let out small apologies before focusing back on the village leader.

Hiruzen cleared his throat and pulled out a scroll, looking at it briefly. “Normally I wouldn’t assign a C-rank mission so soon, but I feel that this team is ready.”

Shiori’s eyes widened in shock and she glanced at her teammates. They all had wide eyes as well, but the spark of interest and eagerness didn’t escape their pupils.

Hiruzen gave a faint smile, reading, “The 44th Training Ground has recently had a breach in their fences early this morning. As a result, we have three escaped tigers, which we need to bring them back into the forest before they do any damage to the civilization nearby. Luckily, the training ground is far from the village and it would take the tigers quite a while before they reach the village.

“Your job is to find the missing tigers and lure them back into the training grounds. I have shinobi stationed near civilization in case they wander into town, but judging from reports, they have not reached them yet."

"Understood," Kyo nodded. "We'll round up the tigers with as minimal damage as possible."

Hiruzen nodded in affirmation before dismissing them, which allowed Kyo to lead the three out of the office. The dark-haired man looked at his three students before saying “Now, before we go any further, just know that I’ll be right by you guys in case anything happens.”

The three nodded seriously. It was their first C-rank mission. The higher the mission, the greater the risk.

“I’m just also letting you know that the 44th Training Ground is known as  _ Shi no Mori _ ,” Kyo explained. “The animals in there are ten times larger than most at minimum. They’re extremely dangerous. Only Jonin go in there for survival practice.”

“The Forest of Death?” Hajime repeated the training ground’s epithet. “Sounds kinda wild.”

"It is," Kyo agreed, running a hand through his black hair. "I  _ am _ going to let you guys handle it, though and only step in when necessary."

The trio nodded before Kyo took off, the three of them right behind him.

**[...]**

The 44th Training Ground was ominous, to say the least. There was a large fence that surrounded even larger trees. “The three of you will head south towards the 43rd Training Ground,” Kyo explained, watching his students gaze up at the forest in front of them in awe. “I’ll be following you three from a distance. Now it’s mainly your job to round up the tigers and up to me to step in if you guys need any help, got it?”

“Yes, sir,” the three nodded their heads.

“Hajime, you can sense chakra presences, right?” Shiori asked, scratching her head. Most talented genjutsu users were. She knew how to detect presences to an extent, but she was sure Hajime would be much better at it.

The brunet nodded. “I’m not super good at it, but I can.” He knelt down onto the floor and placed both hands, closing his eyes. Shiori waited a beat before Hajime opened his eyes, standing up. “Twelve kilometers southeast of here. They’re together.”

“Let’s go, then,” Shiori said before sprinting off, with her teammates behind her.

It took no time to find the tigers once they got closer. They were  _ huge _ . Shiori stood to a bit below the tigers’ knees.

Noticing their presences, the tigers let out vicious roars. Shiori didn’t let it deter her, though, as she launched herself forward.

“Shiori!” Hajime cried out from behind her as she disappeared from his side. He sped up, rushing after the girl, forming rapid hand seals while Shiori blocked a paw from the tiger before landing on one of its backs roughly. “ _ Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu _ !”

Shiori hopped off the tiger’s back just as the giant water dragon headed in their direction. Distracted by the dragon and Shiori, the tigers were overwhelmed by the dragon. However, they quickly shook off the water that coated them, bearing their sharp teeth at the three Genin.

“We have to lure them back,” Haru called as Shiori’s sword made a loud  _ clang _ against one of the tigers’ claws. The young girl let out a grunt, pushing back on the creature before sliding back in front of her teammates.

“Think I’ve provoked them enough to be mad at us?” Shiori asked, which caused Hajime to sigh dramatically. She tossed him a grin and they took off, the tigers running after them.

Shiori led the front, being the fastest, occasionally glancing back to keep an eye on her teammates. Seeing Hajime was having a bit more difficulty keeping up with her and Haru, she whirled around, forming hand seals. Haru slid next towards her, matching her seals.

_ “Raiton: Raikyu!” _

The brunet jumped out of the way as multiple orbs of electricity were launched in his direction. The tigers paused their running, hissing as the balls exploded in front of their faces, but not touching them. They swiped away at the smoke that emerged, bearing their teeth once again.

“You gotta stop being so slow, Hajime,” Shiori teased with a small grin.

Hajime rolled his eyes and took off. The white-haired girl giggled, to which Haru smirked at before they darted off after their teammate, the tigers right behind them.

They ran back to the Forest of Death, occasionally checking to make sure the tigers were on their heels. Occasionally, the Genin would use a jutsu to irk the tigers, careful not to injure them too badly.

They eventually spotted the large fence area and stopped running, as the Jonin in the nearby area surrounded the tigers. “We’ve got it from here,” Hayate said, looking at the Genin. “Good job.”

Shiori wiped a bit of sweat away from her cheek and grinned at her kenjutsu teacher. “No prob,” she sighed. She exhaled and turned to look at her sensei, who was smiling at the three of them as he approached them. “Well, that’s one way to do some cardio, huh, sensei?”

“Excellent work,” Kyo nodded, patting Hajime’s back, who was hunched over, inhaling and exhaling sharply to catch his breath. “Looks like someone needs to work on it a bit more.”

“Not…” Hajime inhaled, “all of us,” he panted, “can run,” more pants, “like monsters,” he finished. Haru, who had the best stamina and fastest recovery time, handed him his canteen of water. The brunet took it from the emerald-eyed boy, gulping it down hungrily.

Shiori looked at Kyo and the dark-haired man looked down at her. He smiled slightly, recognizing the look in her eyes. “C’mon,” he said, angling his head, “food’s on me for a job well done.”

Shiori gave a little fist pump, skipping happily after her sensei with her two male teammates behind her.

**[...]**

“Cheers to a successful mission!” Shiori cried out, holding up her cup of juice.

“Hear, hear!” Hajime cried out in agreement and Haru let out a small smile. The two clanged their cups of water with Shiori’s juice and they all took a drink from their respective cups.

Kyo flipped the meat on the grill so it didn’t burn. “You three did great,” he complimented. “Excellent job covering for Shiori earlier, Hajime.”

“I gotta make sure our baby doesn’t get eaten,” Hajime nodded in agreement, shoving a piece of meat into his mouth. He almost choked on it as Shiori elbowed him in the gut. She threw him a glare and Hajime swallowed before glaring back at the girl. “ _ What _ ?! You just rushed right in!”

“I knew you were there!” Shiori countered. “I rushed in because I knew you were going to back me up. I was never going to get eaten.”

Haru let out a sigh and sipped his water and patiently ate a piece of meat. Hajime acted exactly like an annoying older brother to their youngest member. He always had some sort of quip involving Shiori’s energetic self.

“Oh!” an enthusiastic, slightly deep voice exclaimed. “Aren’t you all energetic today?”

“Hello, Guy,” Kyo greeted pleasantly. He looked to the three Genin behind him. “Did you guys just finish your mission for today?”

“Yeah,” Tenten responded with a small nod. “We were cleaning up some trash by the river.”

“Come join us,” Kyo said, scooting over. Haru did the same and Tenten and Lee sat down. Hajime scooted down for Shiori. Neji took a seat down beside the girl and his sensei sat next to him, across from Lee. “We’re celebrating the success of our first C-rank mission.”

“You guys did a C-rank mission already?” Neji asked, looking at Haru before trailing down to Shiori.

The youngest Genin gave a small hum of acknowledgement, since her mouth was full. She swallowed before saying, “We tracked down some loose tigers.”

“They were  _ huge _ !” Hajime explained. He threw his arms to exaggerate how large they were. “We didn’t even stand to the tigers’ knees.”

“That’s not that hard, considering how short Shiori is,” Neji said bluntly, causing Hajime to laugh. Kyo and Haru coughed into their fists as Shiori flushed pink.

“Neji!” Tenten and Lee scolded, but the Hyuga ignored them.

Shiori frowned and snatched the piece of meat on his plate with her chopsticks. Neji narrowed his eyes at her. She stuck her tongue out and ate the beef obnoxiously. “So I’m a little short,” Shiori shrugged. She elbowed Hajime when he scoffed out,  _ “A little,” _ under his breath. “I’m younger than you all. I’ll grow.”

“You’re adorable, though, Shiori-chan,” Tenten said, smiling widely.

“Being petite isn’t a terrible thing,” Neji pointed out, before eating a mushroom. “Your small frame combined with your speed makes you perfect for stealth.”

“That’s right, Shiori-chan!” Guy peered around Neji to make eye contact with the girl. “You’re in the springtime of your youth!”

“Ah… thank you…?” She looked inquisitively at Tenten, who shrugged in response. Neji looked like he didn’t give a crap about what his sensei said and continued eating. She turned to her teammates, who gave their own shrugs.

Guy was such an enigma. It’s been years since she’s known the man, but she still wasn’t used to his eccentricity.

"I think it's adorable how small you are," Kyo said, leaning on his right palm, looking at the girl. She turned to look at her sensei, who was watching her with careful blue eyes.

Shiori beamed up at her sensei. “You’re really handsome, Kyo-sensei, y’know that?”

Kyo’s eyes widened a fraction before he let out a chuckle. “Here, have some more, Shiori,” he said, placing a few pieces of meat on the girl’s plate. He watched the way her blue eyes sparkled before letting out a happy cry and eating the meat.

**[...]**

“I’ll walk you home,” Neji said, looking at Shiori once the bill was paid.

“Okay.” The girl gave a small nod. She turned to Hajime and Haru saying, “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

The two boys nodded before Shiori gave them hugs. She turned to Neji’s teammates and said, “It was fun seeing you guys again! We should eat together more often!”

“That’ll be great!” Lee exclaimed with a thumbs up. “I look forward to it! Get her home safe, Neji, and I will get Tenten home safely!”

Neji grunted, grabbing Shiori’s wrist and turning away, giving a curt, “Bye” to everyone.

“You’re such a grumpy-pants,” Shiori commented as they walked through the brightly-lit streets of Konoha. “You should hang out with Lee-kun and Tenten-chan more. It’ll be a good team exercise build.”

“Do you spend that much time with Hajime and Haru?”

Shiori nodded her head, walking slightly faster to keep up with Neji’s pace. Seeing this, Neji slowed his pace so she walked beside him instead of being dragged by him. “Tomorrow’s actually our day off, but we’re going to go weapons shopping together.”

Shiori gently tugged her wrist out of Neji’s grip and the boy shoved his hands in his pockets. She continued, “I mean, these are going to be your teammates forever. The person that has to know them the best is you, because once you do, they’ll be the best people to work alongside.”

“I’ll consider it,” the Hyuga genius said simply. They walked in silence together, before Neji spoke again. “But can I truly rely on people who are much weaker than me? You were blessed to be placed on a team with people of equal strength as you.”

The girl looked at him through the corner of her eyes. “I think so,” Shiori replied. “I think the bonds between you three will make you stronger. You’ll be able to bring out each others’ strengths. Sometimes, Neji, destiny can be forged.”

The brunet snorted. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

The young girl only smiled softly. “I hope you see it soon,” she only said before a silence fell over them again. “Some things in life are worth fighting for.”

At that, the light-eyed boy looked at Shiori, who was focusing on the road in front of her. Geniuses and talents came every once in a while. He acknowledged Shiori because she was like him: talented, strong, and smart.

But something that always bothered Neji about Shiori was how positive she was, despite the world they lived in. She adamantly refused to believe his philosophy about destiny and was determined to make a path of her own. He dealt with her stupid ideals because overall, Shiori was a good person. She was helpful, kind, and patient.

Their differences in beliefs caused a few fights to erupt, often involving Shiori heatedly leaving, but she often came back, huffing about how she couldn’t leave a “sad soul” like him alone. He had no idea what she meant by that, but she was the most irritatingly stubborn person he had ever met.

On days he didn’t want to have company, particularly on his father’s death anniversary, she would show up out of nowhere and drag him out to train and go eat. One thing that had definitely suffered during Neji’s so-called friendship with Shiori was definitely his wallet. She wanted to go out too much. But he amused her, because there was something about her smile that kept drawing him back.

They walked in a comfortable silence, with Neji’s hands shoved in his pockets.  _ It was almost like we’re back at the Academy _ , Neji mused to himself. One look towards the smaller girl betrayed their true status, though, as her headband glinted against the lights of the streets of Konoha.

They were both ninja, now. They were no longer the children that trained in the training grounds and attended classes. Soon, Neji and his team would be doing missions similar to what Shiori and her team did earlier. Their lives would be more and more at stake as they moved up the ranks of shinobi.

“You’re thinking pretty hard.” Neji snapped out of his thoughts and glanced over at Shiori. Her bright blue eyes stared back at him, blinking curiously. “Care to share with the rest of the class?”

“No.”

The silver-haired ninja smiled, shaking her head softly. That was Neji for you. “Okay,” she said simply. Anything Neji wanted to share, he’d tell her. He was very blunt and truthful and she never had any reason to doubt him, besides his skewed view on fate.

Soon after, they arrived at the doorstep of Shiori’s apartment that she shared with her father. Shiori turned around, looking up at the older boy. “Thanks for walking me home,” she grinned widely up at the boy.

Neji looked down at her, his face stoic like always. “It was nothing,” he said simply. His eyes watched the way her azure eyes sparkled in amusement and he wondered why she was so intriguing.

She was much smaller than him, as she had turned ten a few months before graduation, a little over two years younger than him. He supposed she was pretty cute and endearing, but that also had to be the fact that A) he liked her as a person and B) calling her ugly was not at all true.

"You're a strange girl," he stated simply. His statement was only proven to be even more correct as her lips curled even more, the little dent in her right cheek deepening. He shook his head and whirled around.

"Bye, Neji!" she called and he could practically  _ hear _ her enthusiastic waving.

He shoved his hands in his pockets, not looking back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So mapped out the story and it's actually going to be LONG. I decided to split it into three seasons (so far), because my Google Docs lag after a certain amount of pages lol. Please stick around for the ride and hopefully I can update more frequently. Just letting you know: Part 1 won't really have that much romance - mainly Shiori and her team's development.

**Author's Note:**

> **References:**
> 
> Tomori Nao ( _Charlotte_ ) as Hatake Shiori
> 
> Tsubaki Kyota ( _Kyou, Koi wo Hajimemasu_ ) as Hoki Hajime
> 
> Mabuchi Kou ( _Ao Haru Ride_ ) as Nachi Haru
> 
> Usui Kyo ( _Black Bird_ ) as Miura Kyo


End file.
